San Joaquin Valley High Speed Rail

Good: “On Tuesday, we got word that engineers at California’s High-Speed Rail Authority recommended that the first stretch of track to be laid should be a 54-mile route through the Central Valley, from Borden to Fresno to Corcoran.”

Can you say jobs? I knew you could. The one thing this will do is upset farmers. We obviously need farms and the rail infrastructure. I hope they’re able to work with farmers to get this done.

5 Replies to “San Joaquin Valley High Speed Rail”

Other than the jobs created for building the rail itself, I’m not sure if this will create many new jobs, though… it’ll just increase competition for the existing jobs at railstop areas by adding an influx of new people to compete for jobs with.

Unless you’re proposing that suddenly more people will travel to Fresno to buy their stuff (what does Fresno have more uniquely or cheaply than elsewhere nearby?) because of the ease of rail travel.

It took 20 years to build a 20 mile long road that everyone (except the enviro left) in Maryland wanted. If California finds the money to build this (doubtful), then it will also take decades before the lawsuits are over.

After that, you’ll discover that – wow – people would rather save money and drive. And yes, even at $10/gallon, it will be cheaper. Look at what Acela tickets in the northeast corridor cost, and compare ridership rates for that train to the slower ones.

Well, James, you know how California rolls. We’re the land of fruits, nuts, and flakes. We, as a whole, are pretty liberal, and like the outdoors. This is just the kind of nuttiness we’re known for. I think you’re right in some ways. There will be endless debate, but it will unite groups normally opposed to each other, and in the end it’ll probably die on the vine.

It would be really nice to have a bullet train from San Francisco, through the San Joaquin Valley, to Los Angeles. Oh, the fighting for a stop along that route would be HUGE.